The clerk left paper and pen and lantern on the ground and slunk towards the rocks.

I was left standing, book in hand, with but one of the party, and that one the leader, beside me.
"Kiss the book," said he in a menacing tone.
I looked at him.

He was not armed, and I was as free a man as he.
Quick as thought I seized the list which the clerk had dropped on the ground.
"Your secret is safe," said I, flourishing it in his face, "so long as the women at Knockowen are unhurt.

But my soul and my hand are my own." So saying I flung the book and struck him a blow on the breast which sent him reeling back against the rock.

And off I went among the bracken, thanking God for this peril escaped.
As I have often proved many a time since, the road to safety lies often on the side of danger.